SUSTAINABILITY RESULTS 2015
Quality-driven CONTENTS research, education and cooperation in an inspiring From the Vice-Chancellor 3 About the University 4 environment, strong social responsi- Integrated sustainability report 5 Research 6 bility and global engagement Education 7 Student participation 8 enable the University of Gothenburg Interaction 9 Professional development 10 to contribute to a better Purchasing and procurement 11 Recycling and waste 12 Chemical substances 13 future. Environmental risks 14 Climate impact 15 Energy and buildings 16 Travel 17 Other reporting 18 From the The University of Gothenburg’s Vision 2020
FROM THE VICE- CHANCELLOR 2015 has been an eventful year in many ways. We have been reminded more clearly than for many years of the importance of our social responsibility and global engagement. The University of Gothenburg contributes to a sustainable society in many ways: by educating responsible citizens; by offering education to everyone, regardless of background; by recruiting employees from different cultures; and by shedding light on and helping solutions to be found for major global problems through our research. This year the UGOT Challenges have enabled us to continue the strategic research initiatives previously taken by the University of Gothenburg. Six outstanding cross-faculty areas are being allocated resources to develop strong research profiles targeted at specific global societal challenges. The Centre for Sea and Society was established with a view to creating a single point of entry to the extensive activities at the Uni- versity with a marine and maritime link and also to develop knowledge about the relationship between the sea and society. A new Department of Marine Sciences has also been established. When looking back at 2015, I am extremely satisfied with everything we have achieved or contributed to as a university. At the same time, we must always strive to identify neglected areas and improve our operation. This is key to achieving Vision 2020. Pam Fredman , Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gothenburg 3 3
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY The University of Gothenburg is one of the major universities in northern Europe, with Environmentally certified since 2004 37 000 students and 6,200 staff members. The University’s eight faculties offer train- The University of Gothenburg has been environmentally certified since 2004 in ac- ing in Fine Applied and Performing Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Humani- cordance with both the international environmental standard ISO14001 and the EU’s ties, Education, Information Technology, Business, Economics and Law, and Medicine Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) programme. The environmental man- and Health Sciences. The unique breadth in education and research provides good agement system has resulted in reduced environmental impact in several areas and opportunities for creative cooperation between disciplines as well as with business the work to integrate sustainable development in education has been reinforced. The and public stakeholders. In 2014, the University offered over 240 study programmes University’s environmental policy guides all of our operations. The environmental and 2,500 courses. management system enables a goal-oriented and systematic approach to achieve the ambitions set forth in the University’s policy document Vision 2020. The University of Gothenburg has joined the UN Global Compact as a condition for participating in the UN’s supply chain for research reports and fieldwork. Thus, the University is committed to – for example – supporting and respecting the protection of human rights, eliminating discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, and supporting a precautionary approach to environmental risks 4 4
INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY REPORT Positive impact for sustainable development The University of Gothenburg’s annual report for 2014 includes an integrated sus- tainability report. These pages present the results with respect to the University’s Research aims for sustainable development and the environment. Education Student participation Our core activities can contribute to sustainable development. Active environmen- Interaction tal work reduces the University’s negative environmental impact in the form of Professional development for example resource consumption, climate impact and use of chemicals. By sys- tematically integrating sustainable development in research, education, interaction Negative environmental impact with the surrounding community, student participation, staff training and our daily Purchasing and procurement operations, we are contributing to a sustainable development of society. Recycling and waste Chemical substances Environmental risks Climate impact Energy and buildings Travel 5 5
RESEARCH The Valand Academy at the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts organ- Objective ised an international two-day symposium entitled Environmental Photography and The University shall promote research within sustainable development in accordance Humanities – Contributions to Research and Awareness. The symposium brought with the University of Gothenburg’s Vision 2020. together multidisciplinary issues, methods and studies within humanities, social sciences, art and natural sciences. Outcome 303 scientific articles within sustainable development were published in 2015, out Number of peer-reviewed scientific articles within sustainable development year 2011 – 2015. of a total of 3,956 scientific articles, representing an increase of 25 per cent com- pared to 2014. The number of scientific publications within sustainable develop- 300 ment has increased by 110 per cent since 2011, while the total number of scientific 250 articles increased by ten per cent. This follow-up is implemented with the help of a number of key words identified within each scientific field. 200 150 Research in interaction During the summer of 2015, the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers arranged 100 the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) international conference through the Centre for Environment and Sustainability (GMV). Eight hundred del- 50 egates from over 70 countries came to discuss research and learning within sus- 0 tainable development over a four-day period. 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 6 6
EDUCATION adaptation work is underway at other faculties. GMV held three University-wide Objective workshops for teachers on use of the toolbox during the autumn. Teachers were The University shall increase the integration of sustainable development in educa- allowed to apply the content of the toolbox to their own course or study programme tion in accordance with the University of Gothenburg’s Vision 2020. in the course of the workshop. All of the participants were very satisfied, and the opportunity to have discussions with colleagues from their own area and from other Outcome subject areas was emphasised as being very positive. The University is increasing the visibility of the level of integration of sustainable development in education through sustainability-labelled courses and study pro- Sustainability through art and green humanities grammes. Eight per cent of courses (200 of 2,504 courses) and 13 per cent of study The Valand Academy developed a single-subject first-cycle course on the Environ- programmes (32 of 243 study programmes) have had an increase of two percent- ment and Photography following the Environmental Photography and Humanities age points for both courses and study programmes compared to 2014. symposium, held in April 2015. A course entitled Art and Food – Material and Pro- cess was also held during the summer of 2015. Toolboxes for integration of sustainable development A green humanities network was launched at the Faculty of Arts after the faculty The Centre for Environment and Sustainability (GMV), together with the faculties, reserved strategic funds for a three-year activity that will arrange faculty-wide has developed faculty-adapted web-based tool boxes to help teachers to imple- research seminars, invite visiting research fellows and organise network meetings ment sustainable development in first-cycle courses and study programmes. The and international conferences within the area. School of Business, Economics and Law, the Sahlgrenska Academy and the Voca- tional Education Teacher Training programme have their own toolboxes, and faculty 7 7
STUDENT PARTICIPATION Objective The University shall increase the number of activities and collaborative projects in sustainable development together with the students. Outcome 217 activities and cooperation projects within sustainable development were imple- mented for students in 2015, representing an increase of 43 per cent. Active students for a sustainable future Many students at the University of Gothenburg have become involved in sustainability issues and several new student associations were formed over the year. Besides the various associa- tions being active in their own department or faculty, they have also started to pursue a variety of projects through the joint organisation Gothenburg Students for Sustainability Alliance (GSSA). The Student Sustainability Summit conference was arranged in Gothenburg in November, bring- ing together almost 50 students involved in 18 different student associations throughout Sweden. These discussions covered, among other things, how use can be made of and attention drawn to student involvement in sustainable development at the university. 8 8
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